HYDERABAD l friday l december 12, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 38 l late city EDITION Aviation regulator asks IndiGo CEO to appear before it again Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has asked IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers to appear before it again on Friday amid ongoing flight disruptions 60 flights from Bengaluru cancelled `10,000 vouchers for affected travellers Elbers was summoned by the DGCA on Thursday to submit a comprehensive report, including data and an update on the recent operational disruptions. Following the meeting, the regulator called him for another meeting on Friday. Meanwhile, disruptions continued, with the crisis-hit airline cancelling 60 flights from Bengaluru airport ■ ■ DGCA officials began monitoring IndiGo’s operations, refunds, and other processes from the airline’s headquarters on Thursday IndiGo announced that it will offer travel vouchers worth `10,000 to each passenger whose flights were cancelled or significantly delayed between December 3 and 5. This will be in addition to the refunds 4-member Dgca team stationed at IndiGo’s Gurgaon headquarters CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI PM, Trump call 6 states get SIR extension, WB left out amid deal push Ground machinery is in overdrive, says EC PR E E THA NAIR @ New Delhi Modi calls it warm, engaging conversation J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi Amid hopes for an early framework trade deal and intense discussions over US agriculture and dairy products seeking access to Indian markets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a telephonic conversation with US President Donald Trump on Thursday a , call described as “warm and engaging”. Modi said that two leaders reviewed progress in the bilateral relationship. “Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump. We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity,” Modi posted on X after the discussion. People familiar with the call said the two leaders exchanged views on expanding cooperation across trade, critical technologies, energy, defence and security, and agreed to work closely to address shared strategic and economic challenges. They also reiterated satisfaction at the momentum in the India-US Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership and underlined the need to sustain progress. The conversation comes as Washington signals cautious optimism on market access talks. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer told a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee this week that New Delhi had offered the “best (trade) offer ever”. Had a very warm and engaging conversation with President Trump Gold card Trump launched the $1 mn ‘Gold Card’, a visa scheme offering pathway to US citizenship. He said if, say, IBM wants to hire someone at the top of his class at Wharton but can’t guarantee he stays in the US, IBM can buy the Gold Card for him to live there for a long period of time | P11 THE Election Commission on Thursday revised the timeline for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in six states, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, following requests from the chief electoral officers. However, poll-bound West Bengal was not granted any extension as the SIR exercise concluded on Thursday . The enumeration period for Tamil Nadu and Gujarat has been extended till December NBW issued against Surekha E x p r ess Ne w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad The Junior First Class Magistrate (JFCM) for Excise Cases, Nampally, on Thursday issued a Non-Bailable Warrant (NBW) against Endowments Minister Konda Surekha after she failed to appear before the court in the defamation case filed by BRS working president KT Rama Rao. Issuing the NBW, the court ordered her to appear before it on February 5. Meanwhile, Surekha’s office insisted that the news regarding the NBW “was false”. EC said its ground machinery is in overdrive to re-verify ASD (absent, shifted, dead/duplicate) electors with whom contact could not be established by BLOs despite 3 mandatory attempts 14, and the draft electoral rolls will be published on December 19. The enumeration period for these six states was to end on Thursday, and the draft electoral rolls were to be published on December 16. The schedule for poll-bound Kerala was revised earlier. The enumeration period for the state will end on December 18, and the draft electoral roll will be published on December 23. For Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the new deadline is December 18, and draft rolls will be published on December 23. SIR in Uttar Pradesh has been extended till December 26, and draft rolls will be published on December 31. The enumeration period for Goa, Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Rajasthan and West Bengal will end on Thursday, and draft rolls will be published on December 16. Pay `10 L to meet and greet Messi Express News Service @ Hyderabad WANT to meet and greet one Lionel Messi? Well, there is a way. Pay up `10 lakh for a 15minute meet and greet session with the football legend. Even if he may not be playing football or dribble past defenders during his trip to India, the name is enough to evoke an unimaginable romance. The craze to get a glimpse of the World Cup-winning captain has touched giddying heights during the GOAT tour. Take for instance the 38,000 capacity Uppal Stadium. It is sold out. The ticket price ranges from `2250 to `9000 (hospital- ity included). The session is set to be held at the Faluknama Palace before the bandwagon moves to the Stadium for an evening programme including a 20-minute match between Messi and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy . Messi’s jour ney will start in Kolkata on Friday and will have a stopover in Hyderabad before flying to Mumbai and New Delhi on Dec 15. Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary for Special Projects and Investment Cell, and Special Chief Secretary, Tourism, Culture and Sports, Govern- ment of Telangana, outlined the programme in detail. On the meet-and-greet fee, Jayesh Ranjan framed it as a personal decision. “If someone wants to meet Elon Musk for 15 minutes and is asked to pay `1 crore, and they see it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, they may be willing to spend that amount.” The football event at Uppal Stadium is scheduled from 7 pm on Saturday. “There is a 20-minute match between Messi and the Chief Minister. It is a friendly match.” High valuation by ICC puts off broadcasters S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Chennai THE International Cricket Council (ICC) and one of its broadcast partners, JioStar, continue to battle headwinds as the partners try to renegotiate the inflated $3bn deal for the right to show the sport’s biggest events over a four-year cycle. The deal still has two years to run but JioStar, who were left with the rights following the merger with Star Sports last year, reportedly want out of the deal. The ICC, whose funding remains the lifeblood for over 97% of its members, sounded out other broadcast houses about the possibility of picking up the remainder of the deal but they have shown no interest so far. “At those prices, it will make no business sense for the likes of Sony (Netflix and Amazon were among the others who were approached) to even show any interest,” one industry insider said. There was a feeling that Star had grossly overpaid as soon as they had won the rights. WITH THIS ISSUE CITY’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 38 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID)